Today was just a beautiful day.

Yesterday at work I was wondering how in the hell I was going to get through another day of work. At lunch time I was in the back, eating, when I heard the managers asking everyone if someone wanted the day off, we had enough people scheduled. People hemmed. I craned my ears and yelled, “Are you offering?? I’ll take it!!” I heard yelled back, “SOLD!” I was positively giddy for the rest of the day.

So today instead of waking up to my alarm and going to work, again, I instead woke up peacefully next to my husband, the bedroom light and bright, and we cuddled and talked for a couple hours before getting up. I forgot what a nice way to wake up that was. I forgot how nice it is to actually spend time talking to my husband – we haven’t been sleeping the same hours lately, which means no evening or morning catch-up.

Of course Den discovered this morning when he went to take a shower that our oil had finished out over the night and there was no hot water. No showers, no dishwasher, no clothes washer. Even that didn’t bother me.

Den headed out for the day with his brother, and men were banging around in our basement hooking up pipes and things, so I headed out to the mall. My goal was to buy some sweaters, but before I managed that I ended up purchasing socks, jeans and a candle. Funny how that works at the mall… it’s scary. I then decided spur-of-the-moment to get my nails done… they needed it, and the place in the mall is only $12. And then while I was there, even more spur-of-the-moment, I got my brows done. They needed it, but I walked out of there feeling very nervous. The last time I had my brows waxed was, ummm, early college. I’m still adjusting.

Finally I found some sweaters that fit nice, ate a quick meal, and finally left. Why is it every time I leave the mall I feel only slightly victorious and more considerably like I just escaped by the skin of my teeth?

I then went to the YMCA where I had a hot shower, since I can’t get one at home. But before the shower I took a quick swim in the small pool. It’s warmer than the lane pool, which was appealing to me, even if there were kids playing in the shallow end. I just floated and paddled around. I patted my belly and said, “See baby? Mommy’s floating just like you are.” It’s something Devin never got to do – I never went swimming when I was pregnant with him.

I got home just feeling so…. restored. I got sleep, I got some leisure time, I accomplished a small goal for the day, I even got back in the pool after over a month. I lit candles at home, tidied up a few things, played with the animals. I brought out my heating pad and turned on the TV. I just finished watching my shows and by the end I had a blanket covering me, a heating pad behind my back, two cats on my lap, a kitten watching from the doorway, and a dog curled up next to my recliner. You can’t get much cozier than that.

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Amidst all of this – well amidst the whole week, I guess – I’ve realized that my work schedule needs to be adjusted. I can’t keep putting in 10 hour tuesdays and barely completing (and only getting paid for) 6 hours of work while I struggle not to fall asleep at my desk. I can’t keep doing “extra” work in the evenings. I think this pregnancy is going to be all about being efficient and conserving energy. And naps. If not naps, then long nights of sleep. (Which is still working for me. I have to get up once at 2am to pee, then I can sleep right through to morning.)

I knew I couldn’t keep going at the pace I was once I got pregnant. And I definitely can’t.